Really! You may not like it. But it presents a question and an argument worthy of deep consideration.

And in what might be a bit of a surprise, I have to admit that I am in agreement with much of what is presented.

There is little evidence that there is a direct link between reading great literature and its civilizing impact on humanity.

IF THE QUESTION IS "Does great literature make us better?

However, IF THE QUESTION IS "Can great literature make us better?" then there is tremendous evidence of its ability to inspire, even in the long-term, our decisions and actions in the presence of life's many ethical challenges.

And even using the word "our" in the preceding sentence is a bit of a misleading and simplistic over-generalization. More accurately perhaps would be the replacing of the words "...our decisions and actions in the presence of life's many ethical challenges..." with "...many people's decisions and actions in the presence of life's many ethical challenges.." as it might be more accurate to suggest that some people do benefit from reading great literature while others do not.

And, to be even more accurate, it might be better to suggest replacing "...many people's decisions and actions in the presence of life's many ethical challenges..." with "...many people's decisions and actions in the presence of many of life's ethical challenges..." because even for the most dedicated bibliophile, none of us would suggest that reading great literature is a panacea-like preventative inoculation.

There are simply too many variables that influence our decisions and actions in the face of life's ethical challenges to assign any universal conclusions. There is a world of difference between the question "DOES ____ make us better?" and "CAN _____ make us better?"

Personally, I'm convinced that literature and great art and spiritual beliefs and scientific discoveries and superstitions and wealth and poverty all have the potential for influencing our actions in the face of life's ethical challenges. And, that potential influence can actually influence people to sometimes make better ethical choices and sometimes make worse ethical choices.

There are as some quite literate people believe and other quite literate people reject, many paths. No two of us take the same life journey. Nor are our decisions and actions influenced in exactly the same ways when we do share bits and pieces of our life's journeys.

All of this is not to say that literature can not be defended if it can not be supported by evidence that it DOES make us better. But, I'm willing to bet that in representing the most articulate expressions of humanity's great questions, regardless of the original cultural, religious, social, economic or other circumstances influencing its creation, most have a universal common core of the very questions that CAN lead to influencing humane behaviors for many.

And for that reason, I can't help but believe that storytellers have always held an important "go to" place in every cultural in every age.

The warning though at the end of the article, is well worth heeding...

_____

"I have never been persuaded by arguments purporting to show that literature is an arbitrary category that functions merely as a badge of membership in an elite. There is such a thing as aesthetic merit, or more likely, aesthetic merits, complicated as they may be to articulate or impute to any given work."

"But it’s hard to avoid the thought that there is something in the anti-elitist’s worry. Many who enjoy the hard-won pleasures of literature are not content to reap aesthetic rewards from their reading; they want to insist that the effort makes them more morally enlightened as well. And that’s just what we don’t know yet."

“Ten-year-old Annemarie Johansen and her best friend Ellen Rosen often think of life before the war. It's now 1943 and their life in Copenhagen is filled with school, food shortages, and the Nazi soldiers marching through town. When the Jews of Denmark are "relocated," Ellen moves in with the Johansens and pretends to be one of the family. Soon Annemarie is asked to go on a dangerous mission to save Ellen's life.”

I don't know about you but I like these kinds of articles. As an English major and an English teacher for nearly four decades, I'm always pleasantly amused at the discovery of "new" back stories particularly about books I've taught repeatedly.

I don't know how many times I did dramatic readings of the entire Of Mice and Men complete with theatre style lighting in my classroom, dressed as a teacher sort of (denim jeans and shirt with tie and jacket... you know the look) and then as I began to read the story aloud I'd casually remove my jacket. A few minutes later I'd remove my tie, followed a few minutes later by rolling up my sleeves and then in subsequent several minutes gaps, I'd pull out a red bandana, wipe my brow and tie it around my neck. Another gap and I'd pull out my old cap just like the one I'd seen George wearing if one of the films. And then I'd hit the projector switch that was set to show a slide of the Salinas valley on the white board behind me.

Okay, I was really into it, and within a single class period the kids were locked into a genuine suspension of disbelief and they wanted to know what was going to happen next.

So when I saw the trivia point about Of Mice and Men in this article, I had to smile since Of Mice and Men was one of the several books that I had dug deeper into than any of the books I taught over the years.

I had no idea about the trivia regarding Don Quixote or Roald Dahl, a writer who I truly like but had no idea regarding the trivia mentioned here.

This is also the kind of "back story" stuff that I found many students intrigued by as well. It's not quite the same as the historical background stuff we also share. There's something about the "did you know?" impact of author and book back story that has a different engagement factor for kids than the traditional academic back story stuff.

Sharing your scoops to your social media accounts is a must to distribute your curated content. Not only will it drive traffic and leads through your content, but it will help show your expertise with your followers.

Integrating your curated content to your website or blog will allow you to increase your website visitors’ engagement, boost SEO and acquire new visitors. By redirecting your social media traffic to your website, Scoop.it will also help you generate more qualified traffic and leads from your curation work.

Distributing your curated content through a newsletter is a great way to nurture and engage your email subscribers will developing your traffic and visibility.
Creating engaging newsletters with your curated content is really easy.